Bid on cars. Win them live with every bid in view.
Browse cars up for auction across Canada, place your bid, and watch the price move in real time. List your own car and let buyers compete for it.
Live auctions
Every bid appears for everyone the moment it is placed. A bid in the final two minutes extends the clock.
You can browse cars, but your access here is view only, so bidding, comments and listing are turned off.
Opening the auction room
Cars will appear here as soon as the catalogue loads.
Results
Finished auctions and what each car sold for.
Cars for sale
Cars at a fixed asking price, no bidding. Message the seller with questions, then reserve the car with a $100 deposit through CAuto.
Support
Answers to common questions, and how to reach us.
How do I bid on a car?
Create an account and sign in, then bid on any live auction. The first time you bid on a car, you add a card and we place a $5,000 hold on it. This is a hold, not a charge. Enter an amount at or above the minimum, or tap a quick bid.
Why is there a $5,000 hold to bid?
It keeps bidding serious. One $5,000 hold covers all your bids on a car. If you don't win, the hold is released as soon as the auction ends. If you win, CAuto's buyer's fee (5% of the winning bid, between $500 and $5,000) is taken from the hold and the rest is released. Card holds only last about a week, so on longer auctions we renew the hold on your saved card. Your bank may briefly show two holds while the old one drops off. Card payments only.
How do I sell my car?
Sign in and choose to list a car. Add photos, details, a starting bid, an optional reserve and how long the auction runs. Our team reviews every listing before it goes live. You can follow its status in review on your dashboard.
How much does it cost to list a car?
Listing a car costs a one-time $30 CAD fee. You pay it when you submit the car. Your car goes to our review team once the fee is paid. If your car is accepted, the fee covers our review and your listing. If it is not accepted, the fee is refunded.
What is the CAuto buyer's fee?
On auctions, CAuto's buyer's fee is 5% of the winning bid, between $500 and $5,000 CAD depending on how much the car sold for. The winning bidder pays it when the auction ends with a sale. Cars under For sale don't have this fee. They use the $100 deposit instead.
How do I buy a car under For sale?
Cars under For sale have a fixed asking price and no bidding. Send the seller a private message if you have questions. When you're ready, tap Reserve this car and pay the $100 CAD deposit. The deal then opens in your Deals tab, where you and the seller message each other to agree on payment, shipping and pickup.
What is the $100 deposit on For sale cars?
The $100 CAD deposit reserves the car for you, so other buyers can't start a purchase on it, and it opens a private chat with the seller. If the car sells to you, the $100 is CAuto's fee for the sale. There is no 5% buyer's fee on For sale cars. If the sale doesn't go ahead, the deposit is refunded.
Which fee do I pay, the 5% or the $100?
It depends on how you buy. Win an auction and you pay the 5% buyer's fee, between $500 and $5,000 CAD. Buy a car under For sale and you pay the $100 deposit, which becomes CAuto's fee when the car sells. You never pay both on the same car.
How long does a review take?
We review new listings and bidder applications as quickly as we can. You will see the status on your dashboard and in your notifications as soon as it changes.
What happens in the last minutes of an auction?
If a bid comes in during the last 2 minutes, the auction is extended so the end time is 2 minutes after that bid. This stops last-second sniping and gives everyone a fair chance to respond.
What is the reserve price?
A reserve is the lowest price the seller will accept. If bidding ends below the reserve, the car does not have to sell.
How do I pay for a car I won?
CAuto does not hold the money for the car. When an auction ends, the winning bidder and the seller arrange payment, paperwork and pickup directly with each other, using the deal in your Deals tab. Always confirm ownership and lien details before you pay.
What if my car did not sell?
You can relist it with one tap from your dashboard, or list it under For sale at a fixed price.
I think a listing is wrong or misleading.
Tell us right away using the email below. Include the car and what looks wrong, and we will look into it.
I cannot sign in or my confirmation email did not arrive.
Check your spam folder first. If it is still missing after a few minutes, email us from the address you signed up with and we will help.
Chat with us
Sign in to chat with our team.
Send a request
Prefer to write it all out? Fill in the form and our team will reply. If you are signed in, the reply shows up in the chat above.
You can also email support@cautoauction.com.
Our story
Why we are building CAuto.
I started CAuto because of a simple question: why is there nothing like this in Canada?
Great online car auctions exist, but none of them were built for us. Canadian buyers and sellers have had to make do, borrowing marketplaces made for somewhere else, working around borders, and hoping the rules do not change halfway through a deal. I kept waiting for someone to build the Canadian answer. Nobody did. So I decided it should be me.
Built here, for people here
CAuto is made in Canada, for Canadian buyers and Canadian sellers. A place where a family in Halifax, a collector in Calgary and a first-time buyer in Winnipeg can all find a fair, open and exciting way to buy and sell cars. Every car is reviewed. Every bidder is checked. Every bid is in plain view.
Strong on our own, ambitious beyond
We believe in this country. Canadian cars, Canadian enthusiasts and Canadian businesses do not need to wait on anyone's trade policy to thrive. A strong home market is the foundation, and that is where CAuto starts.
But we are not building something small. We are here to compete across North America. When international buyers and sellers join CAuto, they are not outsiders. They are part of the community, and we will treat them as our own, with the same fairness, the same clarity and the same care.
Why it matters to me
Every great company begins with someone who sees a gap and refuses to look away. Buying or selling a car is one of the biggest decisions many people make, and it should feel exciting and trustworthy, not stressful or uncertain. That is what I am building: a place where the car, the price and the people are all out in the open.
It is a big goal, and we are only at the start. But big things in Canada have always started small, with people who believed this country could build its own. I do.
Come build it with us. Bid boldly. Sell proudly. Welcome to CAuto.
Zain Khan
Founder and CEO, CAuto
Mehfraz Rahman
President and COO, CAuto
How it works
Sell to the highest bidder, or find your next car at a price you set.
If you are buying
Sign in and browse
Sign in, then look through the live auctions. Open any car to see its photos, specs, known flaws, bid history and comments. Tap Watch to keep a car on your dashboard.
Place your bid
Enter an amount at or above the minimum, or tap a quick bid. You see right away whether you are leading or have been outbid, and every bid shows for everyone as it happens.
Win the car
When the clock hits zero, the highest bidder wins if the reserve was met. You and the seller then arrange payment and pickup directly.
If you are selling
List your car
Add photos, the details buyers look for, a starting bid, an optional reserve and how long the auction runs, from three to fourteen days. Prefer a fixed price? List it under For sale instead.
Watch the bids come in
Answer questions in the comments and follow the price live. Your dashboard shows every listing, its bids and its status in one place.
The hammer falls
The car sells to the highest bidder at their bid. If it did not sell, relist it with one tap from your dashboard.
The rules
- Each new bid must beat the current bid by at least the seller's bid increment.
- A bid in the last two minutes extends the auction to two minutes, so nobody gets sniped at the buzzer.
- With no reserve, the highest bidder wins at any price. With a reserve, the car sells only if the high bid reaches it, and the car page shows whether it has been met.
- Cars under For sale have a fixed asking price and no bidding. Message the seller privately, then pay a $100 CAD deposit to reserve the car and open a private deal with the seller.
- When your auction ends, we ask you here whether you want to list the car under For sale. The question shows at the top of the site and under Messages on your dashboard.
- Every car is reviewed by our team before it goes live. You see the status on your dashboard and we tell you here if we need anything more.
- To bid, sign in and add a card. We place a $5,000 hold on it. It is a hold, not a charge, and it is released as soon as the auction ends if you do not win. If you win, the buyer's fee is taken from the hold and the rest is released.
- You can not bid on your own car. A seller can withdraw a car only before it gets a bid.
- All prices are in Canadian dollars.
- Listing a car costs a one-time $30 CAD fee, paid when you submit it. If your car is accepted, the fee covers our review and your listing. If it is not accepted, the fee is refunded.
- Auctions: CAuto's buyer's fee is 5% of the winning bid, between $500 and $5,000 CAD depending on the price. The winning bidder pays it when the auction ends with a sale.
- For sale cars: the buyer pays a $100 CAD deposit to reserve the car. If the car sells, the $100 is CAuto's fee and there is no 5% buyer's fee. If the sale doesn't go ahead, the deposit is refunded.
- CAuto does not hold money. Buyer and seller settle payment and pickup between themselves.
Questions
Do I need an account?
You can browse without one. To bid, comment, watch cars or sell, sign in first.
What does "reserve not met" mean?
The seller set a minimum price. If bidding ends below it, the car does not sell and the seller can relist it.
What happens if I win?
The hammer comes down and the car is yours. Your Deals tab opens a private deal with the seller, where you both share your phone number, whether the car will be picked up or shipped, and where it's coming from or going to, then message each other to arrange payment and pickup. The 5% buyer's fee applies when the auction ends with a sale.
How much does it cost to list a car?
Listing a car costs a one-time $30 CAD fee, paid when you submit it. Your car goes to our review team once the fee is paid. If your car is accepted, the fee covers our review and your listing. If it is not accepted, the fee is refunded.
What is the CAuto buyer's fee?
On auctions, CAuto's buyer's fee is 5% of the winning bid, between $500 and $5,000 CAD depending on how much the car sold for. The winning bidder pays it when the auction ends with a sale. Cars under For sale don't have this fee. They use the $100 deposit instead.
How do I buy a car under For sale?
Cars under For sale have a fixed asking price and no bidding. Send the seller a private message if you have questions. When you're ready, tap Reserve this car and pay the $100 CAD deposit. The deal then opens in your Deals tab, where you and the seller message each other to agree on payment, shipping and pickup.
What is the $100 deposit on For sale cars?
The $100 CAD deposit reserves the car for you, so other buyers can't start a purchase on it, and it opens a private chat with the seller. If the car sells to you, the $100 is CAuto's fee for the sale. There is no 5% buyer's fee on For sale cars. If the sale doesn't go ahead, the deposit is refunded.
Which fee do I pay, the 5% or the $100?
It depends on how you buy. Win an auction and you pay the 5% buyer's fee, between $500 and $5,000 CAD. Buy a car under For sale and you pay the $100 deposit, which becomes CAuto's fee when the car sells. You never pay both on the same car.
Can I cancel a bid?
No. A bid is a commitment, so only bid what you are ready to pay.